South African man’s Australian visa revoked after attending neo-Nazi rally

A South African man has had his visa revoked for attending a neo-Nazi rally outside Australia’s state parliament.

Matthew Gruter, who has been in Australia since 2022, took part in an anti-Semitic protest organized by the National Socialist Network outside the New South Wales parliament earlier this month.

According to Australian media reports, he was seen among about 60 men in black holding a banner that read “Abolish the Jewish Lobby”.

Australia has recently seen a rise in right-wing extremism. Earlier this year, the country’s government imposed mandatory prison terms for giving the Nazi salute.

Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke confirmed Mr Groote’s visa had been cancelled, saying: “If you have a visa then you are a guest.

“If you are a citizen you are a full member of the Australian family. Just like any family, if a guest shows up and shows hatred and disrupts the family, they are told it is time to go home.”

Mr. Groot moved to Australia with his wife to work as a civil engineer, ABC News reported.

The National Socialist Network, which organized the November 8 rally, is a well-known neo-Nazi organization in Australia. Mr Groote was a senior member of the group in New South Wales, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Demonstrators repeatedly chanted “Blood and Honor,” a slogan associated with the Hitler Youth, ABC News reported.

New South Wales Premier Chris Minns described the rally, which lasted about 20 minutes, as a “shocking display of hate, racism and anti-Semitism”.

Jewish Council of Australia executive officer Sarah Schwartz told ABC News that neo-Nazi groups posed a threat to multiculturalism in the country and a distinction needed to be made between peaceful protests and “acts of hate”.

“They are acts of hate speech and should be treated as hate speech,” she added.